Two axis bottle guide rail change over for an air conveyor

Abstract

A two axis bottle guide rail change over apparatus for an air conveyor supports a pair of guide rails and is operable to simultaneously adjust a lateral spacing between the pair of guide rails and/or simultaneously adjust a vertical positioning of the pair of guide rails relative to the air conveyor.

What is claimed:  
     
       1. A two axis guide rail change over apparatus for an air conveyor having a longitudinally extending conveyor path and a conveying slot that extends along the conveyor path, the apparatus comprising: 
       a pair of longitudinally extending guide rails having a lateral spacing between the pair of guide rails, the lateral spacing extending along the conveyor path; and,  
       an adjustment mechanism connected to the pair of guide rails, the adjustment mechanism and frame being co-actively operable to move both guide rails of the pair of guide rails simultaneously laterally toward and away from each other and simultaneously vertically upwardly and downwardly relative to the conveyor, the adjustment mechanism being operable to move the pair of guide rails laterally independently of moving the pair of guide rails vertically, the adjustment mechanism positioning the pair of guide rails on laterally opposite sides of the slot with the slot centered between the pair of guide rails as the adjustment mechanism moves the pair of guide rails laterally toward and away each other.  
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein: 
       each guide rail of the pair of guide rails is a flat panel that is connected to the adjustment mechanism with the panels extending parallel to each other and vertically upwardly from the adjustment mechanism, and the panels have top edges that project from the panels laterally inwardly toward each other.  
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein: 
       the adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of screw threaded rods that are supported by the conveyor with axes of the rods extending vertically relative to the conveyor and relative to the pair of guide rails, and a plurality of blocks with internal screw threading mounted on the rods, and turning the rods in opposite first and second directions causes the plurality of blocks to move in vertically opposite first and second directions across the rods and causes the pair of guide rails to move vertically upwardly and downwardly.  
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein: 
       the adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of screw threaded rods and a plurality of internally screw threaded blocks that are mounted on the rods, the pair of guide rails are supported by the plurality of blocks and turning the rods in opposite first and second directions causes the plurality of blocks to move in opposite first and second directions across the rods thereby causes the pair of guide rails to move between their first and second relative positions.  
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein: 
       a chain drive interconnects the plurality of rods for simultaneous rotation of the plurality of rods.  
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein: 
       the plurality of screw threaded rods is a plurality of lateral rods, and the adjustment mechanism also includes a plurality of screw threaded vertical rods that are supported by the frame, a second plurality of blocks with internal screw threading are mounted on the vertical rods, and the pair of guide rails are supported by the second plurality of blocks whereby turning the vertical rods in opposite first and second directions causes the second plurality of blocks to move in vertically opposite first and second directions across the vertical rods and causes the pair of guide rails to move vertically between their first and second positions.  
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein: 
       the plurality of screw threaded rods includes left hand threaded rods and right hand threaded rods extending laterally across the frame, and the plurality of blocks includes blocks with left hand internal threading mounted on the left hand threaded rods and blocks with right hand internal threading mounted on right hand threaded rods.  
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein: 
       rotation of the plurality of rods in the same direction causes the guide rails to move in opposite directions.  
     
     
       9. A two axis guide rail change over apparatus for a conveyor, the apparatus comprising: 
       a pair of guide rails, the guide rails having longitudinal lengths and extending side-by-side with a lateral spacing between the guide rails that defines a longitudinally extending conveyor path between the pair of guide rails;  
       a supporting frame adjacent the guide rails;  
       an adjustment mechanism supported by the frame, the pair of guide rails being mounted on the adjustment mechanism, the adjustment mechanism and frame being co-actively operable to move both guide rails of the pair of guide rails simultaneously laterally between first positions of the guide rails and second positions of the guide rails where the first positions of the guide rails are different from the second positions of the guide rails and in the first positions the guide rails are at a first lateral spacing from each other and in the second positions the guide rails are at a second lateral spacing from each other, the second lateral spacing being larger than the first lateral spacing;  
       the adjustment mechanism and frame being co-actively operable to move the pair of guide rails simultaneously vertically between third postions of the guide rails and fourth positions of the guide rails where the third positions of the guide rails are different from the fourth positions of the guide rails and in the third positions the guide rails are at first vertical positions relative to the frame and in the fourth positions the guide rails are at second vertical positions relative to the frame the second vertical positions being spaced vertically above the first vertical positions; and  
       the adjustment mechanism and frame being co-actively operable to move the pair of guide rails between the first and second positions of the guide rails independently of moving the pair of guide rails between the third and fourth positions of the guide rails.  
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein: 
       the adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of screw threaded rods that are supported by the frame with axes of the rods extending vertically relative to the frame and relative to the pair of guide rails, and a plurality of blocks with internal screw threading mounted on the rods, the pair of guide rails are supported by the blocks whereby turning the rods in opposite first and second directions about their axes causes the blocks to move in vertically opposite first and second directions across the rods and causes the pair of guide rails to move vertically between their first and second positions.  
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein: 
       each guide rail of the pair of guide rails is a flat panel that is mounted on the adjustment mechanism with the panel extending longitudinally along the conveyor path and vertically upwardly from the adjustment mechanism to a top edge of the panel, and the top edges of the pair of guide rail panels project laterally inwardly toward each other.  
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein: 
       the frame is attachable to an air conveyor having a longitudinally extending conveyor slot, the frame is attachable to the air conveyor to position the frame beneath the air conveyor slot with the air conveyor slot being laterally centered between the pair of guide rails; and  
       the adjustment mechanism is operable to move the pair of guide rails between the first positions of the guide rails and the second positions of the guide rails while maintaining the air conveyor slot laterally centered between the pair of guide rails.  
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein: 
       the frame is attachable to the air conveyor and is suspended from the air conveyor.  
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein: 
       the adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of screw threaded rods that are supported by the frame with axes of the rods extending laterally across the frame and a plurality of blocks with internal screw threading mounted on the rods, the pair of guide rails are mounted on the blocks whereby turning the rods in opposite first and second directions about their center axes causes the blocks to move in laterally opposite first and second directions across the rods and causes the pair of guide rails to move between their first and second positions relative to each other.  
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein: 
       a chain drive system interconnects the plurality of rods and a hand crank-drives the chain drive system.  
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein: 
       a chain drive system interconnects the plurality of rods and a gear motor drives the chain drive system.  
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein: 
       the plurality of screw threaded rods is a plurality of lateral rods, and the adjustment mechanism also includes a plurality of screw threaded vertical rods that are supported by the frame, a second plurality of blocks with internal screw threading are mounted on the vertical rods, and the pair of guide rails are supported by the second plurality of blocks whereby turning the vertical rods in opposite first and second directions causes the second plurality of blocks to move in vertically opposite first and second directions across the vertical rods and causes the pair of guide rails to move vertically between their first and second positions.  
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein: 
       the plurality of screw threaded rods includes left hand threaded rods and right hand threaded rods extending laterally across the frame, and the plurality of blocks includes blocks with left hand internal threading mounted on the left hand threaded rods and blocks with right hand internal threading mounted on right hand threaded rods.  
     
     
       19. The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein: 
       rotation of the plurality of rods in the same direction causes the blocks with left hand threading to move across the left hand threaded rods in a direction opposite to a direction of movement of the blocks with right hand threading that move across the right hand threaded rods.  
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein: 
       rotation of the plurality of rods in the same direction causes the guide rails to move in opposite directions.